How to Say I Love You
by JackieStarSister
Summary: Oneshot. Mai asks Zuko a question that catches him off guard, but not for the reasons she thinks. Please review. Happy Saint Valentine's Day! *Cover art courtesy of AvatarSpirit website.*


Love partakes of the soul itself. It is of the same nature. Like the soul, it is a divine spark; it is incorruptible, indivisible, imperishable. It is a point of fire within us, which is immortal and infinite, which nothing can limit and nothing can extinguish. We feel it burning even in the marrow of our bones, and we see it radiate even to the depths of the sky. ~ Victor Hugo, _Les Misérables_

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><p>"I've been wanting to talk to you about something," Mai started.<p>

Zuko looked at her warily. This didn't sound like a promising way to start a discussion.

"Do we love each other?" Mai asked plainly.

Zuko blinked and stared at her. In a different situation, it almost would have been funny to see his facial expression change, from surprise to puzzlement.

Then he said something even worse than anything she had anticipated.

"What?"

Mai never cried (at least no one had ever seen her cry before). She wasn't emotional as Ty Lee, and her ego wasn't wounded so easily. But when Zuko said that, she felt as though she'd been dealt a blow in a fight.

Mai knew that sometimes she demanded a lot of him. But she didn't think this was a tall order. Did he know that she asked for things to test him, to see whether he really cared about her? Did he know what she didn't admit to herself – that part of her was still afraid of getting hurt again?

She had lost him twice already – first when he was banished, and then when he left to join the Avatar – and she didn't want to lose him again. But if he didn't love her the way she loved him …

She turned as though to walk away. "Oh, never mind," she huffed, trying to cover her disappointment with annoyed indifference.

Zuko grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. "I … I thought you already knew."

Why did she think he kissed her? Why else would he take time out of his overwhelming schedule to be with her? How could she doubt it?

The whole matter was a mystery to Zuko. Why would someone tell a person, "I love you"? To remind them of something they should already know? Or to inform them, in case it was possible they didn't know? To show them they cared, if there was no other way to do so?

Zuko couldn't remember the last time anyone had said "I love you" to him, much less the last time he said it to someone else.

In spite of – or perhaps because of – his lack of experience with it, he thought that love was something you had to show rather than tell. After all, didn't actions speak louder than words? You should be able to tell based on the way a person acted toward you.

Zuko had some idea of how to show love in a non-romantic way. Granted, it had taken him a long time to admit to himself that he loved people, and to decide to show it. But he was getting better.

He visited Iroh in Ba Sing Se when time permitted. He had even accompanied Iroh to Lu Ten's grave there. They were there for each other; they didn't have to acknowledge the fact that they loved each other, like father and son.

When he first joined "Team Avatar" he had viewed the others mainly as allies, but he came to love them, collectively and individually. Of course he would never tell them that, but he tried to show them; it was so much less awkward that way.

He bonded with Aang when he taught him firebending and practiced together.

For Sokka, Zuko helped rescue his father and girlfriend, and they sometimes had sword-fighting spars.

Suki he knew perhaps the least well in the group; but they had sealed a friendship when they worked together to escape the Boiling Rock, and he had given a public statement of apology for attacking Kyoshi Island a year ago.

Toph … well, they'd had an intimate moment when they talked about Iroh. That was when Zuko first recognized Toph as a friend. Whenever they saw each other, she punched him "affectionately" (so she claimed).

For Katara, he helped track down her mother's murderer, and saved her during Sozin's Comet. She wasn't shy about hugging when they saw each other; she was pretty open about emotions, and wasn't afraid to show that she loved people.

But looking back, Zuko realized he hadn't really done a good job showing Mai that he loved her, between yelling at her on Ember Island and leaving her twice. She, on the other hand, had made it quite clear that she loved him, when she betrayed her best friend, risking her life and forfeiting her freedom, to save him.

Maybe he did need to say it.

"Do you love me?" Mai asked again.

Zuko looked at her with sincerity. "Yes. I love you."

There was that smile he tried so hard to earn. "Good. Because I love you."

And they showed it, with a long and meaningful kiss.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I don't usually write about these two characters. Please let me know what you think of it! And JSYK, I have a poll on my profile about what type of story I should post next. Happy Saint Valentine's Day. :)


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